


what is yours

by cherryfeather



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Quiet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-18
Updated: 2013-01-18
Packaged: 2017-11-25 23:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/644076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryfeather/pseuds/cherryfeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorin Oakenshield protects what is his.</p>
            </blockquote>





	what is yours

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Твоё по праву](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1396642) by [Toshirei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toshirei/pseuds/Toshirei)



Elves and Men say that the Dwarves are greedy and selfish, that they care only for gold and precious things and dark spaces underground.

They're wrong, of course. Dwarves care only for things that are _theirs._ Gold, stones, metals, the echoing caverns of their kingdoms are _theirs_ , claimed by their blood and sweat and work of their hands. They care for their homes, for their kin, for their history and their people. And if that makes them single-minded and selfish in the eyes of Elves and Men, so be it.

Thorin Oakenshield may be the most single-minded and selfish dwarf that has ever walked the face of Middle-Earth, by that definition. It's not a title he'd be inclined to resent; he'd wear it proudly, in fact--Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror, King Under the Mountain and the most selfish dwarf in the history of the line of Durin.

He's not sorry. He protects what is his. If he sometimes takes it too far--well, no, there is no "too far" in his thoughts, but he knows he can be... Well. Fili and Kili have not deserted him yet, and he knows he is the hardest on them, demands the most of them (because they are his kin, because he feels sometimes that they should know what it is to share his burden even if he knows it's unfair), and if they can tolerate his tempers and moods then the others cannot complain.

He knows the hobbit wonders why he makes his bed far from the others at night, away from the fire. The other dwarves should know him well enough to see the truth of it, but he is sure the hobbit guesses that it's because Thorin thinks himself above the rest of them. That he would not deign to share the same ground as the others.

He's wrong, of course, as well. And in all truth, it's not that Thorin would't _like_ to sleep a little warmer at night.

But when he wakes, he has to be able to see them all. In one glance, every dawn when he opens his eyes, he counts _one-two-three-four-five-six-seven--_ starting at himself and passing over each of them in turn, saying their names in his head, _Balin-Dwalin-Dori-Nori-Ori--_ and cannot stop until _Fili-Kili, twelve-thirteen_ and the iron bands squeezing his chest loosen enough to breathe. The thought of waking up one morning, unable to assure himself that they are all there, that he hasn't lost anything _else_ , is unbearable.

He will guard what is his. He will care for it. This company is his. His kin, his subjects, his people.

If that makes him selfish, so be it.

-

(One morning, in a hastily made camp on the other side of the Misty Mountains, he surprises himself by counting _twelve-thirteen-fourteen_ , ending on Bilbo's curly head tucked beside Fili and Kili's messy bedrolls.)

_end._


End file.
